Strategic Lead, Regulation, Policy & Projects in Birmingham

Strategic Lead, Regulation, Policy & Projects

Permanent
Grade 6 – £54,495- £64,811
Consultation grade – subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review
Working 36.5 hours per week
Sponsorship is not available for this post. Applicants must have the right to work in the UK that does not require employer sponsorship for the duration of the appointment.

About The Role

This is a critical leadership role at the heart of Birmingham City Council’s commitment to delivering safe, compliant and high-quality housing services. As Strategic Lead, you will lead the Directorate’s regulatory and assurance function, ensuring robust governance, compliance and continuous improvement across housing services. You will play a key role in strengthening the Council’s regulatory position, embedding a culture of accountability and improving outcomes for residents.

Working closely with senior leaders, Members and regulators, you will drive the Council’s response to legislative change, inspections and Ombudsman activity—ensuring services are compliant, transparent and resident-focused.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead and embed a robust housing assurance framework, ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements
• Oversee governance arrangements including Compliance Boards, reporting frameworks and improvement planning
• Drive the Council’s approach to self‑regulation, inspections and regulatory engagement
• Lead on service improvement plans, managing risk and ensuring clear reporting to senior leaders and Members
• Oversee Ombudsman activity, complaints insight and TSMs, ensuring learning is translated into service improvements
• Deliver self‑assessments, audits and mock inspections to strengthen service performance and compliance
• Build strong relationships with regional and national partners to adopt best practice and influence the sector

About You

• Significant experience working within housing regulation, compliance or assurance in a complex environment
• Strong understanding of the regulatory landscape, including post‑Grenfell legislative changes
• Proven track record of developing and delivering assurance frameworks and driving service improvement
• Experience engaging with regulators and leading responses to inspections, audits and Ombudsman findings
• Ability to assess complex legislation and translate it into practical, operational delivery
• Politically astute, with experience advising Members and presenting to senior governance forums
• Strong leadership capability with experience managing multidisciplinary teams and complex programmes

Leadership & Impact

• Lead a multidisciplinary team across policy, assurance, governance and regulatory activity
• Drive a culture of compliance, continuous improvement and resident focus across housing services
• Provide clear, transparent reporting on performance, risk and compliance to senior stakeholders
• Influence strategic decision‑making through high‑quality insight, data and recommendations
• Ensure resident voice is embedded through feedback, performance reporting and engagement

Why Join Us

• Play a key role in Birmingham’s housing compliance and improvement journey
• Shape how services respond to regulation, legislation and resident expectations
• Work at the centre of senior leadership and governance decision‑making
• Drive meaningful improvements to resident outcomes and service quality
• Lead a high‑impact function with visibility across the organisation
• Collaborate with sector‑leading partners and influence best practice
• Be part of a Council committed to transformation and continuous improvement

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. For a diverse shortlist, we will use positive action to support underrepresented ethnic minorities.

Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people.

A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken.

Proof of right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements before any employment offer can be confirmed.